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Tuesday, April 23, 2013

'American Psycho' musical to open in London

Kerry Hayes / AP

Christian Bale in the film "American Psycho."

By Belinda Goldsmith, Reuters

A musical based on Bret Easton Ellis's "American Psycho," the disturbing tale of a Wall Street banker turned sadistic serial killer, will have its world premiere in London in December.

A spokesman for London's Almeida Theatre said on Friday that the show would open on December 3 and run until January 25.

American playwright Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa, best known for his work on the U.S. television series "Glee," is producing the script and the show is directed by Briton Rupert Goold.

The music and lyrics will be produced by American singer-songwriter Duncan Sheik, who wrote the music for "Spring Awakening" but is best known for his 1996 debut single "Barely Breathing."

Easton Ellis's novel, published in 1991, is a satire about the 1980s yuppie boom and follows Wall Street investment banker Patrick Bateman, an obsessive materialist who by night commits murders -- or at least imagines he commits them -- while losing himself in drugs and prostitution.

On its release, "American Psycho" shocked readers with graphic content that included Bateman torturing a woman with a rat. In Australia the book was shrink-wrapped and could not be sold to anyone aged under 18.

The book was adapted into a film in 2000 starring Christian Bale, while a project to adapt the book into a musical for the United States was first announced in 2008.

Producer Jesse Singer said the team behind the musical had decided to move it to London where Goold is based and is associated with the Almeida Theatre and to try the show off-Broadway first.

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Senate bill jeopardizes tax-free online shopping

FILE - In this Oct. 18, 2010 file photo, an Amazon.com package is prepared for shipment by a United Parcel Service (UPS) driver in Palo Alto, Calif. States could force Internet retailers to collect sales taxes under a bill that overwhelmingly passed a test vote in the Senate Monday, April 22, 2013. (AP Photo/Paul Sakuma, File)

WASHINGTON (AP) ? States could force Internet retailers to collect sales taxes under a bill that overwhelmingly passed a test vote in the Senate Monday.

Under current law, states can only require stores to collect sales taxes if the store has a physical presence in the state. As a result, many online sales are essentially tax-free, giving Internet retailers a big advantage over brick-and-mortar stores.

The bill would allow states to require online retailers to collect state and local sales taxes for purchases made over the Internet. The sales taxes would be sent to the states where shoppers live.

The Senate voted 74 to 20 to begin debating the bill. If that level of support continues, the Senate could pass the bill as early as this week.

Supporters say the bill is about fairness for businesses and lost revenue for states. Opponents say it would impose complicated regulations on retailers and doesn't have enough protections for small businesses. Businesses with less than $1 million a year in online sales would be exempt.

"I believe it is important to level the playing field for all retailers," said Sen. Mike Enzi, R-Wyo., the bill's main sponsor. "We should not be subsidizing some taxpayers at the expense of others."

In many states, shoppers are required to pay unpaid sales tax when they file their state income tax returns. However, states complain that few people comply.

"I do know about three people that comply with that," Enzi said.

President Barack Obama supports the bill, but its fate is uncertain in the House, where some Republicans regard it as a tax increase. Heritage Action for America, the activist arm of the conservative Heritage Foundation, opposes the bill and will count the vote in its legislative scorecard.

Many of the nation's governors ? Republicans and Democrats ? have been lobbying the federal government for years for the authority to collect sales taxes from online sales, said Dan Crippen, executive director of the National Governors Association. Those efforts intensified when state tax revenues took hit from the recession and the slow economic recovery.

"It's a matter of equity for businesses," Crippen said. "It's a matter of revenue for states."

The bill pits brick-and-mortar stores like Wal-Mart against online services such as eBay. The National Retail federation supports it. And Amazon.com, which initially fought efforts in some states to make it collect sales taxes, supports it, too.

"Amazon.com has long supported a simplified nationwide approach that is evenhandedly applied and applicable to all but the smallest volume sellers," Paul Misener, Amazon's vice president of global public policy said in a recent letter to senators.

On the other side, eBay has been rallying customers to oppose the bill.

"I hope you agree that imposing unnecessary tax burdens on small online businesses is a bad idea," eBay president and CEO John Donahoe said in a letter to customers. "Join us in letting your Members of Congress know they should protect small online businesses, not potentially put them out of business."

The bill is also opposed by senators from states that have no sales tax, including Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont., and Sen. Kelly Ayotte, R-N.H.

"Supporters of this online sales tax bill are trying to muscle it through before senators find out how disastrous it would be for businesses in their states," Ayotte said. "I will fight this power grab every step of the way to protect small online businesses in New Hampshire and across the nation."

Baucus said the bill would require relatively small Internet retailers to comply with sales tax laws in thousands of jurisdictions.

"This legislation doesn't help businesses expand and grow and hire more employees," Baucus said. "Instead, it forces small businesses to hire expensive lawyers and accountants to deal with the burdensome paperwork and added complexity of tax rules and filings across multiple states."

But Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., said the bill requires participating states to make it relatively easy for Internet retailers to comply. States must provide free computer software to help retailers calculate sales taxes, based on where shoppers live. States must also establish a single entity to receive Internet sales tax revenue, so retailers don't have to send them to individual counties or cities.

"We're way beyond the quill pen and leger days," Durbin said. "Thanks to computers and thanks to software it is not that complex."

___

Follow Stephen Ohlemacher on Twitter: http://twitter.com/stephenatap

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/495d344a0d10421e9baa8ee77029cfbd/Article_2013-04-22-US-Online-Sales-Tax/id-04c321eebaf74286b5948f81b47761a0

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Congress pushes for ?Internet Freedom? as U.N. showdown looms

The House is pushing forward in an effort to block a United Nations-related group from potentially allowing countries to censor the Internet, before an international showdown this fall.

Internet_Archive_mirror_servers The House Energy and Commerce Committee approved a draft bill, with little fanfare last week, that repeated a claim that ?it is the policy of the United States to preserve and advance the successful multi-stakeholder model that governs the Internet.?

Congress had passed a resolution to that effect last year, but now it?s seeking to get an official law on the books before a big international conference in October in South Korea.

Some contentious language was struck from the bill that might have affected the current policy of net neutrality, which allows the federal government to make sure Internet providers provide equal access to companies that want to stream video and other content.

But the basic gist of the bill was to make sure a message was sent to U.N.-sponsored International Telecommunications Union (ITU).

Last December, the United States and its key allies didn?t sign a draft ITU treaty in Dubai that proposed that individual nations had the power to potentially censor the Internet.

The last-second addition of wording about the rights of all nations to have a role in controlling the Internet sparked outrage from Western nations.

This February, departing Federal Communications Commissioner Robert McDowell warned the House committee that the ITU had plans that weren?t in the best interest of the United States.

?Last year?s bipartisan and unanimous congressional resolutions clearly opposing expansions of international powers over the Internet reverberated throughout the world and had a positive and constructive effect,? he said.

?The dramatic encroachments on Internet freedom secured in Dubai will serve as a stepping stone to more international regulation of the Internet in the very near future. The result will be devastating even if the United States does not ratify these toxic new treaties,? he added.

McDowell said the meeting this fall in South Korea will be ?literally a constitutional convention? to ?define the ITU?s mission for years to come. Its constitution will be rewritten and a new Secretary General will be elected. This scenario poses both a threat and an opportunity for Internet freedom. The outcome of this massive treaty negotiation is uncertain, but the momentum favors those pushing for more Internet regulation.?

The ITU is seeking to update a 1988 document called the International Telecommunication Regulations Treaty. It is considering controls over the Internet as an expansion of its current mandate over telephones, television, and radio networks.

A late nonbinding provision tacked on to the treaty last year stated: ?The Internet is a central element of the infrastructure of the information economy, and recognizes that all governments should have an equal role and responsibility for international Internet governance, the security and stability of the Internet, and its future development.?

The addendum was sponsored by a bloc of African nations, and Iran led the effort to get it passed by a majority vote.

At the time, former U.S. ambassador Terry Kramer bluntly said his country had no interest in signing the treaty.

?The Internet has given the world unimaginable economic and social benefit during these past 24 years. All without U.N. regulation,? Kramer said.

The event was serious enough that in a highly charged partisan environment of Washington, the Obama administration, top Republicans and Democrats in Congress, and even top tax fighter Grover Norquist all agreed the Internet should be kept free when it comes to access and taxes.

In reality, some countries already block Web access, but an official mandate to let ITU members control how Internet access points are assigned and monitored would make the whole process much easier to manage?and censor.

The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) manages domains and controls the Internet?s backbone. ICANN operates as a nonprofit company at the direction of the U.S. Department of Commerce. (Prior to 1998, the U.S. government managed Internet domain names directly.)

Some critics say the real issue is a power grab by the ITU (and the U.N.) to take ICANN away from any swaying influence exerted on it by the U.S. government.

Scott Bomboy is the editor-in-chief of Constitution Daily.

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Monday, April 22, 2013

Thousands of marijuana smokers celebrate first legal ?420? in Colorado

Thousands of men and women celebrate the legalization of marijuana during a "420" event at Denver's Civic Center??DENVER, CO. -- Ten years ago, Ken Gorman, the founder of Denver?s annual ?420 Rally,? stood inside the city?s Civic Center Park with about a dozen supporters as they pushed for marijuana legalization.

Today, an estimated 80,000 individuals gathered in the same location as they celebrated Colorado voters? decision to legalize the recreational use of cannabis last November.

?This is what freedom smells like,? attorney Rob Corry told the crowd, as he counted down the moments until 4:20pm CT, at which point literally thousands of people simultaneously exhaled marijuana smoke into the air, creating a haze that was visible for blocks away.

?You?re going to be in the Guinness Book of World Records,? rally organizer Miguel Lopez told the crowd, eliciting a roar of cheers and laughter. ?More people will have smoked pot at ?420? in this location than anytime, anywhere in the history of the world.?

The day's events formally kicked off at just past 10:00am on Saturday morning. And while it was readily apparent that many, if not most, attendees showed up simply for the novelty of smoking marijuana in a large public gathering, there were hundreds of people there to make money money off the attendees.

Dozens of vendors quickly set up shop, offering items ranging from marijuana smoking pipes to various food offerings like "giant turkey legs." And one didn't have to walk far without being offered several varieties of marijuana for sale, which is still illegal under Colorado law.

In November 2012, more than a million Colorado voters (55.32 percent) supported the passage of Measure 64, which legalized the recreational use of marijuana in the state. However, the consumption of the drug remains illegal under federal law.

A similar bill passed by a broad margin in Washington State.

An estimated 80,000 people gatehred for the "420 rally" in Denver's Civic Center Park (Eric Pfeiffer/Yahoo New??

And while the thousands of pot smokers using the substance in public is technically a crime, Colorado law enforcement said they were more concerned with ensuring public safety in light of the recent terror attack in Boston.

?We're aware of the events in Boston," Denver police spokesman Aaron Kafer, told the Associated Press. "Our message to the public is that, if you see something, say something."

Lopez and a number of other leaders of the legalization movement said they remain unsatisfied with what they consider the limited scope of Measure 64, which along with forbidding consumption of marijuana in public spaces, contains other restrictions, such as driving while under the influence of cannabis. In addition, Lopez said those individuals imprisoned for past crimes involving the sale, use and distribution of marijuana should be released from jail.

On Monday, several of the event?s organizers will hold another rally outside the Colorado state capital in which they will speak out against the ?Driving Under the Influence of Cannabis Bill,? which aims to set a legal limit for the amount of THC a person can have active in their bloodstream while driving. The bill passed the state House in March and is scheduled to be taken up for consideration by the state Senate.

Despite the jubilant mood amongst the rally?s participants, the event was not without its critics.

Smart Colorado, a group that opposed the legalization bill in 2012, released a statement saying the open use of cannabis set a bad image to individuals looking at Colorado.

?We encourage Coloradans to pay attention to the 4/20 rallies by marijuana advocates. These events, which will be covered by national media, will send a clear message to the rest of the nation and the world about what Colorado looks like in the wake of the passage of Amendment 64 last fall,? Henny Lasley, head of Smart Colorado, said in the statement.

?Does the behavior of the participants in these events reflect well on our state? And do they respect the limitations outlined by Amendment 64, which does not allow public and open consumption of marijuana or the use by anyone under 21 years old??

In addition, there were a number of dubious claims made about the alleged benefits of medical marijuana. While the substance has been shown to alleviate the symptoms of several illnesses, one organizer described the substance as a ?cure? for several serious medical conditions, including Crohn?s Disease, arthritis and even cancer.

A second day of similar events is scheduled to take place on Sunday in Civic Center Park but is expected to draw a much smaller number of participants.

"We have the law, the science, we have the people," Lopez told the crowd. ?But the war is not over.?

A large American flag is waved during Denver's "420 rally" (Eric Pfeiffer/Yahoo News)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/lookout/thousands-marijuana-smokers-celebrate-first-legal-420-colorado-002900339.html

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Portable ATMs, phone-charging in China quake zone

A man squats near the collapsed remains of a building destroyed by Saturday's earthquake in Lushan county in southwestern China's Sichuan province, Monday, April 22, 2013. Saturday's earthquake in Sichuan province killed at least 186 people, injured more than 11,000 and left nearly two dozen missing, mostly in the rural communities around Ya'an city, along the same seismic fault where a devastating quake to the north killed more than 90,000 people in Sichuan and neighboring areas five years ago in one of China's worst natural disasters.(AP Photo/Ng Han Guan)

An elderly Chinese man waits for food to be distributed with his dog at a makeshift tent in Lushan county in southwestern China's Sichuan province, Monday, April 22, 2013. Saturday's earthquake in Sichuan province killed at least 186 people, injured more than 11,000 and left nearly two dozen missing, mostly in the rural communities around Ya'an city, along the same seismic fault where a devastating quake to the north killed more than 90,000 people in Sichuan and neighboring areas five years ago in one of China's worst natural disasters. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan)

Residents line up for packets of instant noodles in the earthquake struck county of Lushan in southwestern China's Sichuan province, Monday, April 22, 2013. Saturday's earthquake in Sichuan province killed at least 186 people, injured more than 11,000 and left nearly two dozen missing, mostly in the rural communities around Ya'an city, along the same seismic fault where a devastating quake to the north killed more than 90,000 people in Sichuan and neighboring areas five years ago in one of China's worst natural disasters.(AP Photo/Ng Han Guan)

The head of a horse statue decapitated by Saturday's earthquake sits near tents set up for residents displaced by the quake in Lushan county in southwestern China's Sichuan province, Monday, April 22, 2013. Saturday's earthquake in Sichuan province killed at least 186 people, injured more than 11,000 and left nearly two dozen missing, mostly in the rural communities around Ya'an city, along the same seismic fault where a devastating quake to the north killed more than 90,000 people in Sichuan and neighboring areas five years ago in one of China's worst natural disasters. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan)

A woman opens business in a shelter near her damaged shop after the earthquake in Yuxi village of Baosheng township in Lushan county in southwest China's Sichuan province Sunday, April 21, 2013. Saturday's earthquake in Sichuan province killed over 200 people, China's Xinhua News Agency said. (AP Photo) CHINA OUT

LUSHAN, China (AP) ? The tent village that sprang up in two days to house quake survivors in mountain-flanked Lushan is no ordinary refugee camp. China's full range of disaster response is on display: Trucks with x-ray equipment, phone-charging stations, bank tellers-on-wheels ? even a tent for insurance claims.

The efforts under way Monday in mountainous Sichuan province after a quake Saturday that killed at least 188 people showed that the government has continued to hone its disaster reaction ? long considered a crucial leadership test in China ? since a much more devastating earthquake in 2008, also in Sichuan, and another one in 2010 in the western region of Yushu.

"Lushan was so heavily hit and my family's house toppled. It has been such a disaster for us," said Yue Hejun, 28, as he waited to recharge his family's three mobile phones at a charging stall, volunteered by a communications company and coordinated by the government in a new addition to the arsenal of services after natural disasters. "If we can charge our phones, we are at least able to keep in touch with our family members outside and that helps to set our minds at ease."

At a mini-clinic with two green cots in the open air and a small tent for doctors to sleep, a doctor said the government has learned the importance of fast coordination since the Yushu quake, which killed more than 2,600 people. Much of the initial relief in that disaster came from Buddhist monks and other non-government volunteers, partly because of the remoteness of much of the affected areas.

"After 24 hours or 48 hours in Yushu, things were not so orderly or settled in," said the doctor, who like many government officials would give only her surname, Luo. "The government's quick, organized response is very important. It's no use to blindly come here and try to save people."

Helicopters have been an obvious presence in the latest rescue efforts, used to reach outlying communities, unlike in 2008 when bad weather hampered their use in the critical first 36 hours. This time, better use of helicopters for reconnaissance ? with remote sensing technology ? and for the distribution of aid has allowed help to get out more quickly to where it is needed, said Teng Wuxiao, director of the Institute of Urban Public Security at Fudan University in Shanghai.

Still, complaints were common among the survivors of the latest quake, especially in the more hard-to-reach areas. While aid was being delivered, it was not getting out to all who need it. Yue said family members in his remote mountain village had received no help with shelter and were living under tarpaulins.

Huang Mingxian, 47, who was camped out with seven family members in a government-issued blue tent in a small public square, said the government's efforts were appreciated but that supplies were not always distributed fairly.

"This morning is the first time in three days that we have gotten instant noodles," Huang said, waving a pair of long chopsticks she was using to stir the noodles in a wok over a gas canister-powered mobile stove. "Other areas have electricity and water, what about us?"

Earlier Monday, about two dozen residents briefly gathered on a street corner near a camp area, shouting that they had not been given food in two days. A half-hour later, a large truck rolled up and dozens of evacuees ran up to it, jostling as the supplies were being handed out.

The death toll in Saturday's quake ? measured at magnitude 7.0 by Chinese authorities and at magnitude 6.6 by monitors in the U.S. ? may continue to tick upward, with about two dozen people still missing. More than 15,000 people have been sent to hospitals, with more than 300 of them seriously injured.

Central authorities' ability to respond to natural disasters has been seen as tests of legitimacy for centuries. Chinese emperors put state resources into controlling floods, and earthquakes and other disasters were believed to be signs that a dynasty was losing the "mandate of heaven."

The state-run tabloid Global Times boasted in an editorial of China's communal "disaster-relief" culture, and its "more mature" response to the latest quake, comparing it favorably to those overseas. "In its ability to mobilize people and in other indicators, China's disaster relief comes ahead of the United States, Japan and other developed countries," the newspaper said.

The Foreign Ministry said that Beijing is turning away foreign offers of assistance, saying China is capable of handling it on its own.

In Lushan county's town, where many of the buildings are unsafe for use, the grounds of schools, hospitals, a gymnasium and other government buildings have been converted into evacuee camps. Quake survivors formed long lines in front of trucks and stalls to receive instant noodles, bottled water and other supplies.

Beyond the bare necessities, there are also stalls for survivors to make insurance claims, a large vehicle that converts into a bank and ATM-on-wheels, and tents sponsored by Chinese telecoms companies providing numerous electrical extension cords for residents to recharge their electrical gadgets.

High school seniors in the disaster area will be moved this week to the provincial capital, Chengdu, along with 30 teachers so that they can continue classes and take the all-important university entrance exam, the state Xinhua News Agency reported.

As typically happens after disasters, Chinese with cars were packing them with supplies and heading to the disaster area. Anticipating traffic congestion that could hamper emergency teams, the government issued a notice Monday asking volunteers, tourists and others not trained as rescuers to stay out of the disaster area.

However, authorities were letting motorcyclists through.

Peng Song, 28, an outdoor equipment retailer who biked to Lushan from the provincial capital of Chengdu, had his motorcycle packed with tents and bottled water and was riding with 14 other bikers-turned-volunteers out to remote communities.

"Those in the disaster area need help. We just want to offer a hand to them, that's all," Peng said.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/3d281c11a96b4ad082fe88aa0db04305/Article_2013-04-22-China-Earthquake%201st%20Ld-Writethru/id-c3373301248244f28121e9cfe09d71ae

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PSA: Baidu Is Not Trying To Buy Zynga

Looks like Baidu and Zynga are the most recent victims of a bogus press release stunt. This morning, a company called PR*Urgent put out a press release saying that Baidu -- known as the "Google of China" -- wanted to acquire Zynga, the social gaming giant. It claimed Baidu offered to pay $10 per Zynga share in cash. But a PR representative for Baidu has categorically denied the news. "Baidu had nothing to do with this news release," he told TechCrunch.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/dGG2lPvyyTo/

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Sunday, April 21, 2013

Nokia Lumia 720 review

With the shared unveiling of Nokia's Lumia 720 and Lumia 520, the company's running flush of Windows Phone 8 models was complete. All WP8 handsets we've reviewed essentially fit into two distinct tiers based on shared core specs. That begs the question: why come out with two new models now when both share the same SoC, amount of RAM and screen resolution as the established Lumia 620 and HTC 8S? Obviously, there are differences in design, cameras, display tech and all the other bobs and bits that create the 720, but is it worth the significant markup over the 620, and more than double the price of a 520 or Huawei Ascend W1? Enough with all the rhetorical questions -- join us after the break as we find out exactly what the Lumia 720 has to offer.

Gallery: Nokia Lumia 720 review